Restless
by AmericanWoman
Summary: Sarah can't move on until she gets the answers she needs. Will Jareth give her those answers?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer- All I own of Labyrinth is a ****DVD****. I don't own the rights to the story or characters. **

Sarah let out a puff of air as she kicked the covers off of her body. There would be no sleep tonight. She had lain in bed for over three hours, and though she was exhausted, her mind would not let her rest. And she needed rest so badly. She sat up against her headboard in defeat. She felt so, so tired. A vague feeling of nausea washed over her, but her heart was racing. In her mind, she kept returning to those final moments last night when she had said the words that would bring her and her baby brother back home.

The Goblin King had stood before her, hand stretched out to her, pleading with her to stop talking. To love him. She couldn't for the life of her figure out why he had done that. As she thought back to their first meeting, she tried to remember his words. Didn't he say that she had to reach the castle before the thirteen hours had run out? She had done it, with time to spare. Toby should have been waiting for her as soon as she arrived, shouldn't he?

Sarah walked over to the window and looked up at the night sky. The stars winked down at her, just as they did every night, but they didn't bring the lightness to her heart that she usually felt at the sight. Tonight she felt spent. It wasn't just physical, although her body certainly needed rest. No, she felt it in her soul. If she let herself feel what she was desperately trying to control, she would never regain her composure. Sarah had never felt such depth of emotion before. She struggled to understand just why she was in such turmoil, but it was all so confusing. She was only fifteen years old, far too young to feel the way she did, and with such strength.

Far too young. He must have been toying with her. Of course he was toying with her! What would he want with a fifteen year old girl? She was being ridiculous. How could she have let herself become so misguided? He was a king for God's sake. A king! And she was a silly girl who had imagined herself to be misused because she had been asked to put away her costume and babysit her brother. Oh, how she felt it now. Her cheeks burned as she remembered how she had behaved the evening before, and compared that image to that of the king as he had stood before her, mocking her with his eyes and his tone after she had made her wish. To think that such a person would ever genuinely want her.

Sarah knelt down beside her bed and stretched her arms in front of herself, resting her cheek on the mattress. She was too restless to lie down, and too tired to remain standing. If only she could sleep: then she could forget her swirling thoughts and feelings. Her chest felt constricted, and at the same time she felt as if she would burst. Burst with laughter or tears, she couldn't- and didn't want to- decide. She turned her face into her mattress, burying it there. She wanted to laugh at herself, if only that laughter could stand on its own. She knew tears would not be far behind any attempts she made to lighten her mood. This would never do.

Somehow she had to find out why he had made her that offer. If he had been sincere, she had some apologizing to do. If the look on his face as she said the words had been real, then she had to seriously think about the kind of person she was to put it there. And if he had only been trying to lure her away from her mission, then she had to put the scene behind her. To put him behind her. She could try.

Sarah crawled onto the bed, covering herself again. Now that she had made her decision,- she would discover what his intentions had been- she felt herself relaxing enough to sleep. She could work out the details in the morning.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer- Oops, I forgot! All I own of Labyrinth is a DVD. I don't own the rights to the story or characters. **

_AN: I'm calling the parents Karen and Robert. I know those aren't the official names, but they're the ones that stuck with me. Also, this will most likely be a pretty short fic, but this is NOT the end. To those who reviewed my story, thank you. I really wasn't expecting any reviews for a first story. _

_Notwritten: Your review makes me smile. Thanks for the thought._

_hazlgrnLizzy: Thanks for the compliment. I hope the rest of the story is to your liking as well. _

_FaeriesMidwife: Thank you for your kind words. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story._

If this story is too emo, let me know. I'm really out of practice!

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The next morning found Sarah lying in bed with a smile on her face. She had been dreaming about dancing with a certain handsome king. In her dream, there had been no mission to complete, no rude onlookers to mock her for her youth- only a ballroom full of beautiful dancers, happily dancing the night away as she gazed into the strangely beautiful eyes of her king.

Sarah stretched lazily as she floated down from dreamland. Her smile slowly disappeared into a frown as she remembered the decision she had come to last night. Was she insane? How was she going to find out what she wanted? She couldn't just ask him, could she? Would he even come back to talk to her? Last night, she had said that she needed _all _of them, but he didn't come. Even the goblins that had fought her in the streets of the Goblin City had come, but he hadn't. Why would he come this time? Well, she could try. Making a wish had brought him to her last night. Maybe it would work again today.

"Sarah, are you awake up there? Breakfast is almost ready!" How was it that Karen always seemed to know exactly when she woke up?

"I'm coming, Karen. Just a minute," she answered. Sarah walked over to her dresser and picked up the figurine that looked so much like the Goblin King. Sighing, she returned it to its place, and headed downstairs.

"Sarah, really! You look terrible! You didn't get sick out in that rain last night, did you?" Karen flew to Sarah, feeling her forehead and throat. "Poor thing, you must feel just awful!"

"No, Karen. I'm fine," Sarah insisted, pushing Karen's hands away. "See, no fever. I just couldn't sleep. I had a fight with a friend and couldn't stop thinking about it. After breakfast, I'd like to go to the park and think things over. You're taking Toby out to get new shoes later, aren't you?"

"Yes, Sarah. If you don't want to come, that's fine. Go to the park, but you come straight home, and no later than noon. I don't want the wrong people seeing a young girl by herself, sitting alone in the park all day." Karen winked at Sarah, and dropped a kiss on her head as she walked by.

Sarah wrinkled her nose as she gave her stepmother a small smile. Karen really wasn't so bad, and Sarah was feeling guilty for the way she had talked to her the night before. True, Karen was a bit too protective, and a bit of a busybody when it came to Sarah's life, but she meant well.

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Sarah felt torn as she made her way to her park. She had figured out that the owl that had watched her recite the lines from her book must have been the Goblin King. Why else would there be an owl, of all things, watching her in the middle of the day, when it should have been sleeping, and _only_ when she read from that book? She would call him there, where he had come to watch her act out his story. She felt excited and terrified as she neared her bridge.

'_It's now or never,'_ she thought. Moving to stand on her bridge, she took a deep breath, and made her wish. "I wish the Goblin King would come. Right now." She looked around the glade, and saw-

Nothing. Sarah walked to the obelisk she had seen him perch on before. Quickly scanning the sky, she saw nothing even remotely resembling an owl. She searched the park for any signs of the king, and saw nothing. She was alone in the park. Sarah walked over to a bench and thought about what she would do. She would wait for a while, and if he didn't come, it meant that he didn't want to see her. If he didn't want to talk to her, she would try to forget the whole thing and move on.

Sarah sat on the bench, lost in her thoughts, until she heard the clock chiming. It was eleven o'clock already! Had she been sitting there so long? And he hadn't come. Her nose stung at the thought, and she felt like crying. No, she wouldn't cry. If he didn't care enough to even show up and talk to her, she certainly wasn't going to waste any tears on him. She would stop moping around like she had been doing since last night, and put the whole mess behind her.

About halfway home, Sarah noticed the tears streaming down her cheeks. He had been playing with her emotions after all. He must have been. First he had sent her that peach and given her one of her dreams. So he had known that she had feelings for him. And he had tried to use those feeling against her when she went to claim her brother at the castle. Well, he wasn't going to do that anymore.

"_I'm not crying because I'm sad,"_ she told herself. _"I always cry when I'm mad. So, I'll just get it out of my system, and I'm never going to think about him again. He's obviously forgotten about me already, so I'll forget him too."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer- All I own of Labyrinth is a ****DVD****. I don't own the rights to the story or characters. **

_notwritten- Thank you for the review. I hope you like this chapter. :)_

_hazlgrnLizzy- Thank for the praise. This is fun. ;)_

_Witch Nova- How could anyone **really **forget Jareth? I'm anxiously awaiting the next chapter of your story, btw. Did I mention that I'm in love with your Jareth? I think I did! I'll stop gushing before I freak you out. :D  
_

_futrCSI1490- I'm trying to update daily. I do have 3 little monkeys, though, so all I can do is try! I'm glad you're looking forward to my story, though! :)_

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Sarah slammed the door as she entered the house. Karen and Toby were still out; she had seen that the driveway was empty. Her dad would be at work till late in the evening. She was fuming although she didn't suppose she had any right to take it out on her home. Still, it was better than crying again. She wouldn't spare another tear- or another thought- on that jerk. Yes, he was definitely a jerk. He had played her for a fool and now he was ignoring her. But she wouldn't think about him.

She would think about Hoggle instead. He had said that, should she ever need him, all she had to do was call. And Sarah really needed a friend right now. She ran upstairs to her room. The timing was perfect. She was home alone, and no one would hear her and wonder who she was talking to. She giggled as she thought about Karen's reaction if she overheard Sarah talking to 'no one'. She didn't even have a phone in her room, so there would be no way to explain away their voices.

Sarah closed her door and walked across to her vanity. "Hoggle, I need you," she said as she looked at her reflection.

"You do? Well, it's not a very good time right now," a gruff voice said behind her. Turning around, she saw her friend , covered in dust and muck, hair wild, and looking quite put out.

"Hoggle! What's happened to you? You're a mess," she exclaimed.

"Well, you'd be a mess, too, if _you'd_ spent all day trying to move all those rocks out of the city. That rat who calls himself Jareth has ordered us to clean up the city, and he won't even let Ludo help. He said it would teach us to disobey orders again."

"Oh, Hoggle, I'm sorry. I didn't even think about that," Sarah moaned. "Here I've been moping around all day long and didn't even think about the mess we left behind. Is there anything I can do to help? Can I go back with you and help put things back the way they were?"

"No, no. There's no way for you to go back without asking _him _first, and there's no way I'm going near him right now. But what do you mean you've been moping? What for? You won, didn't you?"

Sarah flinched. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. "It's nothing, Hoggle. But I _am_ glad you came. I feel much better just seeing you here." With that, Sarah reached for Hoggle, prepared to give him a hug a peck on the cheek. She was shocked when he twisted away from her and raised his hand to stop her.

"Oh, no! You're not going to do _that _again. I've had enough of the Bog, if you don't mind!"

"What are you talking about? What does the Bog have to do with anything?"

"The last time you kissed me, we ended up in the Bog! He told me if you ever kissed me he'd make me the Prince of the Land of Stench. I may not be in his kingdom, but I'm not taking any chances."

"That's why that trapdoor opened up?" Sarah couldn't believe what she was hearing. The Goblin King had sent them to that awful place just because she had kissed her friend on the cheek to thank him for saving her? Why would he care if…? Unless he was jealous. Could it be?

"Yeah, that's why. Anyway, I better get back before they notice I'm gone. It's been nice seein' you though. You call me again anytime. Friend," he said, shyly ducking his head.

"Can I at least get a handshake?" Sarah asked.

"Sure." Hoggle said, taking her hand before slowly fading away.

Sarah sighed contentedly as she looked toward her window. She _did_ feel better for having seen Hoggle. She wished that she could somehow help her friends repair the Goblin City, but on thinking the situation over, she realized that she didn't have the first idea of what that entailed.

"Sarah, are you home?" Karen closed the door behind her and called up to her stepdaughter's room. "We're back."

"Yeah, Karen, I'm up here! Did you find what you wanted?"

"Just barely! You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find high top shoes for little boys that don't cost an arm and a leg! Really! Does making the shoe a little bit higher really justify doubling the price?"

Sarah smiled at her stepmother's rant. She would go off on the oddest things. Sarah knelt down in front of Toby. "What have you got there, little buddy?"

Toby beamed at her, a huge smile on his face. He held one foot up so she could inspect it while he grasped her sleeve- and a good amount of her hair- for balance.

"Wow! Those are really nice, Toby. That's a really cool train on your shoe!" Sarah giggled as Toby ducked his head, flung his arms back, and flew off after his mom. She really did love the little brat. Especially when he was being cute and not screaming!

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Sarah sat on her bed that evening brushing out her hair. Things were going to work out. She still had her family and her friends. She knew deep down that she'd never really forget the Goblin King, or get over the hurt she felt at being forgotten so quickly by him, but she wasn't going to waste her energy trying to understand why he had led her on.

Sighing deeply, she put her brush down and crawled under her covers. She stared up at her ceiling, unable to close her eyes just yet. She definitely was _not_ going to lay there all night thinking about _him_. Not happening. Nothing good would come from that. She had more pride than that. She would not think about his wicked smile, or the way he had leaned over her in the tunnels, or the way he had looked at her when he asked how she was enjoying his Labyrinth, or how she had felt as he led her around the ballroom, or the expression on his face as she had said the wo…

Sarah let out an exasperated huff as she threw the covers off and stalked off to the kitchen. She was just thirsty. That was all. Once she had had her water, she would be able to sleep just fine.

Returning to her room, she caught sight of her music box princess in the white dress.

Her nose stung and her eyes pricked with tears at the sight. Who was she kidding? This was going to be another long, hard night.

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Jareth looked down at the sleeping girl and felt a stab of pity for her. Her eyes were puffy and red; she looked like she had been crying. He was conflicted. Part of him hoped that he hadn't been the cause of her tears. He had come as soon as he was able. He had responsibilities, and couldn't abandon them to answer the girl's call. On the other hand, if the girl _had_ been crying because he hadn't come- maybe there was hope yet. She had sounded rather nervous, and at the same time excited, when she had called him. Well, he would let the girl clear the situation up when she awoke. And it looked like she would wake up any minute now.

Jareth moved to the window and pretended to look down at the view it presented. He heard the girl squeak behind him and suppressed a grin. Turning back around, he saw that the girl was now buried to the chin in her covers and staring at him with wide eyes.

"What are you _doing_ here?" At first Sarah thought she must have dreamt up the image before her, but soon came to accept the fact that the _Goblin King_ really was standing at her window looking down at her front yard.

"If I'm not mistaken, you called on me. Am I mistaken?" His majesty seemed to be enjoying himself entirely too much.

"Well, yeah, I did call you, but that was _yesterday_! And it was at the _park_! Not in my _room_!" Sarah burrowed even deeper into her covers as she sat up and leaned against the headboard. It was a fascinating thing to watch.

"I see." He moved over to her vanity and picked up the figurine that so resembled himself. "Well, I can certainly understand your reluctance to carry on a conversation here." He returned the small Goblin King to its position on the dresser and turned to face Sarah. "Would you like to continue this somewhere else? Would half an hour be enough time for you to ready yourself and meet me at your park?"

"I think so." Sarah was finally starting to feel awake, and was terribly confused. He had come! But why now and not yesterday? And why was he being so… friendly? He actually looked happy standing there in her room. Was he really going to meet her at the park?

"Very well. I'll be waiting for you, Sarah. Until then."

"Wait!" Sarah blushed. She hadn't meant to say it quite so loudly.

"Yes?" Jareth smirked down at her. Great. Now we were back to that.

"Just… What should I call you?"

The Goblin King's smirk relaxed into a warm smile- a very nice looking warm smile. "You may call me Jareth." And with that, he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer- All I own of Labyrinth is a ****DVD****. I don't own the rights to the story or characters. **

I've raised the rating, as the characters use the word 'damn'. It's in the movie, which is rated PG, but I'll err on the side of caution. This is the last chapter.

_Witch Nova: Thanks for the support. I'll keep reloading the page here until you update your story. Please don't let Jareth recover too quickly, dear. ;)_

_hazlgrnLizzy: Thanks for your interest. Here's the park scene! _

_futrCSI1490: I'm glad my story made you smile. The kids were being particularly wish-away-able yesterday, but I managed to finish the story while they slept. I say 'update soon' all the time, too. :P_

_T.Dahila: I love how he showed up in her room, too, but I can't take credit for the idea. It's been done before, but I hope I wrote an interesting version of it._

_notwritten: Thanks for reading and reviewing. My weekend is over, but I hope you have a nice one. _

_Sylistra: If you have any constructive criticism for me, don't hold back! braces self Thanks for the praise! :)_

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Sarah flew across the room to her closet and grabbed a change of clothes. As she headed to the bathroom to change, she considered what she would tell Karen. She needed to hurry and go to the park because…because… she needed to… nothing. Karen wasn't stupid. She'd realize something was up. Sarah would offer to take Toby to play at the park; Karen was always up for that. She never had any time to herself, she liked to say.

Wait. Take Toby? To see Jareth? Was that safe? "_Don't be stupid, Sarah. Of course it's safe. If he was going to keep Toby, he would have done it the first time," _she thought_._ Besides, Toby had seemed fine, and she had heard Jareth singing to him when she was in the Labyrinth. Yes, that's what she'd do.

Sarah answered Karen's repeated calls to breakfast as she hurriedly dressed for her meeting with Jareth. Her jaw dropped as she saw her reflection. Her eyes were puffy and it was obvious that she'd been crying. _"Damn! This is what I looked like when he came? Damn, damn, damn!"_ Mortified, Sarah briefly considered wearing a bit of make-up before dismissing the idea. No. That would just make Karen suspicious, and she didn't want to give Jareth the wrong idea. It _would_ be the wrong idea, right?

Splashing cold water on her face, Sarah decided that was the best she could do and went down to her breakfast. Kissing her father good morning as she walked past, she greeted her stepmother. "Good morning, Karen. This looks great!"

"Thank you, dear," Karen responded, puzzled. Sarah was usually a good kid, but she was _not_ a morning person. "You look bright and chipper today."

"Thanks. I want to go to the park after breakfast and I thought I'd take Toby with me. What do you think?"

"Oh, Sarah, that would be great. I really need to get caught up with the bills and balance the checkbook, and you know how impossible that is with a toddler constantly getting into everything…" Sarah tuned her out as she rambled on. Karen had agreed, and that was all she cared about. Looking over at Toby, she wrinkled her nose at him before starting on her breakfast.

"Robert, why don't you give them a ride on your way to work?" Karen asked her husband after a minute. "It's on your way."

"Sure, but I need to leave in a few minutes." Glancing over his newspaper at Sarah, he asked, "Do you think you'll be ready in time? I can't be late."

"No problem. I'm almost done anyway." Shoveling the last bite into her mouth, she put her plate in the sink and went to collect Toby's things and get him ready. Karen would kill her if she forgot Toby's sunscreen. After she had gotten him ready, they piled into the car and went on their way.

Sarah felt… she didn't know how she felt, exactly. All she knew was that she was happy that she would see Jareth soon, but also afraid, though she couldn't say of what, precisely. She saw from the clock in the dashboard that they would be early. Well, that would give her time to collect her nerves, so it was okay.

Sarah thanked her father and kissed him goodbye as they pulled up next to the park. She wrestled Toby into his stroller and started towards her bridge. Toby started to protest his confinement, so Sarah began singing to him. "If you're happy and you're Toby, clap your hands!" Toby squealed in delight as he attempted to clap his hands, and as they reached her bridge, they were both in high spirits.

Sarah took in the scene before bending down to release Toby from the stroller. The way he was straining to get out showed her that it wasn't a minute too soon.

"Hello, there, little fellow." Sarah's head shot up on hearing the voice behind her. Toby, who she had just finished unbuckling, flopped out of the stroller and toddled over to Jareth, giggling the whole way.

"Well, he seems to really like you, doesn't he?" She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Toby was hanging from the knees of the man who intimidated and flustered her more than anyone else. The only one who did, to be truthful.

"He's a fine young chap, " Jareth answered, and he reached down to pick the boy up. "We had a pleasant time together, didn't we?"

"It's nice to know someone did," Sarah muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Jareth asked. Something told her he knew damn well what she had said.

"Nothing." Sarah took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for what was to follow. She hadn't called him to discuss Toby's many fine qualities, after all. "You're early."

Jareth raised an eyebrow at her comment. "So are you."

"Yeah. Well, I called you yesterday because there's something I wanted to ask you. About the other day."

"Yes." Jareth suddenly looked very serious and intimidating again. "What did you want to know?"

Sarah suddenly felt her breath catch. Could she really do this? She'd have to be careful how she went about it. Swallowing and taking a deep breath, she continued. "You said I had thirteen hours to reach your castle and get Toby back."

"That's right."

"But when I got there, he wasn't waiting for me. I won when I got to the castle, right?"

"Right."

"So why didn't you just give him to me then?" Sarah bit her lip as she waited for her answer.

Jareth stared at Sarah and seemed to consider his words before answering. Taking a deep breath, he began. "I wanted to talk to you first. I knew you thought that you needed to say those damned words before the time ended."

Sarah nodded. "You mean I didn't?"

"No. As you said, you won the moment you entered the castle." He paused and waited while Sarah absorbed this new information.

"So you weren't trying to distract me? You meant what you said?" Sarah felt terrible. He had been offering his heart to her while she struggled to remember the meaningless words from her book.

"Yes, Sarah. I meant it. The game was already over, and you had already won."

"Oh, no. I'm sorry, Jareth. I didn't know. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I'm so sorry if I did. But I'm fifteen! You sounded like you were making a marriage proposal, and I'm way too young for that right now." Her face flushed hot as she spoke. There. She'd said it. She held her breath as she waited for his response.

"It was a marriage proposal, Sarah. And you're right. You are too young." He seemed sad at the admission, but somehow relieved as well.

"Then why? If you agree that I'm too young, why did you do it?" Now she was starting feel a bit annoyed, though she couldn't quite put her finger on the reason.

"I had to try. I thought I'd never see you again." He seemed to be pleading with her through his eyes as he spoke. "Once you said the words from your book, I would be unable to come to you and talk to you again unless you specifically called me." He hoped she would understand.

Sarah felt like the air had been knocked out of her as she listened to him. He seemed so sincere, and so sad as he spoke that she felt ashamed of herself. He had really meant it. That was why he hadn't come to see her after she returned home from his Labyrinth.

Suddenly, Jareth broke into a huge, pointy grin. Sarah jumped when she saw it. "Then again, " he began, "I should have known that I couldn't know what to expect from you. You were, after all, the only person to ever call my Labyrinth 'a piece of cake'. You would be the first person to call on me after leaving it."

"Oh," was all Sarah could manage. The sight of all of those teeth grinning at her combined with the way he was looking at he sent a thrill of something she wasn't prepared to identify shooting through her.

"My offer still stands, Sarah. I don't want your answer now, but when you are ready I'll be waiting." He spoke in a low, serious voice, but his eyes hadn't quite lost their mischief. Sarah didn't know it, but every thought that flitted through her mind was written on her face.

Sarah gulped and nodded. She was having a hard time organizing her thoughts at this point.

"Until then, I'd like to be friends." He extended his hand to Sarah, and she stared at it blankly for a moment.

Looking back to his eyes, Sarah took his hand, and a smile appeared on her lips. "Alright. Friends. Jareth." Suddenly, she was grinning.

Jareth extracted his pendant from Toby's iron grip, and handed him over to Sarah. "Friends, " he said, contemplating the word. The wicked devil look came back into his eyes as he smiled that sharp grin at her. "For now."

Sarah blinked as she realized that Jareth was no longer standing before her. Laughing, she lifted Toby high above her head and swung him around as he shrieked with joy. Suddenly she felt like she could fly.


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